As a girl who grew up in India, I encountered a lot of skin and hair related issues. The products that might work for a person of European origin might not work for me. So I'm creating this blog to share skin/hair solutions that might work for girls of Indian origin.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

I grew up in an Indian town which was a landlocked city. Summers were super hot and so humidity was super high. If you sensitive skin like mine, then this is a recipe for disaster for your skin. The result was little red bumps all over my upper arms. It started out as speckles of bumps. But as years progressed it grew denser and became so obvious to the person standing next to me. If you know what I'm talking about, then you know KERATOSIS PILARIS a.k.a KP! "Kero..what?!!" was my reaction too when I first heard it. But you heard it right. It is commonly known as "chicken skin" too.

First of all, it is NOT a skin disease. It is just a skin condition. There could be numerous reasons why your skin is susceptible to KP. Sensitive skin and humidity are the reasons why I think I got KP. This condition cannot be cured as per my knowledge goes, but (there is always a BUT. :)) it is definitely treatable. Most of the KP solutions will have some form of exfoliation and moisturizer. The exfoliator is to scrub out the bumps whenever they surface smoothens your skin. The moisturizer will keep the skin soft and the bumps from surfacing again for some time. Since KP is only treatable, this regimen has to be repeated over and over again everyday to keep the bumps away. If you stop it for sometime, you'll see the bumps again.

You can start trying some off the shelf products to see if those work for you. The product that is tailor made for your skin will show results in 2-3 weeks time. If you are not seeing any progress even after 4 weeks, then it means it is time to shop for another product or seek your dermatologist's advice.

Some of the best known products for treating KP are:

1) DERMADoctor KP Duty. If it is the first you're trying this, then I would recommend getting their kit that contains an exfoliation scrub and a moisturizer for dry skin.

Both the products have very good reviews online. You have to try them to determine which works the best for you. I started with the DERMADoctor's KP kit. It did not work for me. So I switched to GLYTONE. It worked wonders. I could see an immediate result by end of the first week itself. Now, even my scars have started reducing and my skin has started looking really healthy.

So, all you beautiful girls out there with sensitive skin, please don't treat KP as acne or heat boils. The remedy for those conditions will not treat KP. Ok?